Julie Schumacher

Like Richard Russos Straight Man this book has a lot to say about the humanities in American colleges and universities. Very funny and also moving. Tom Perrotta, New York PostA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR and Boston GlobeFinally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary."Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville's Bartleby.In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.Dont miss Julie Schumacher's new novel, The English Experience, coming soon.

"I should probably mention something right now before this story goes any further: my name is Theodora Grumman, and I am a liar."Its hard for Thea to write four truths a day in the notebook her mother gave her for the summer. Especially when her grandparents house on the Jersey Shore is even more packed with family than usual, and her cousin Jocelyn wont leave her alone. Jocelyn just might be the worlds neatest and nosiest seven-year-old, and she wants to know whats in Theas notebook. But Thea wont tell anyone about the secret she has promised to keep--or how she lost her best friend (Truth #12), whose name was Gwen.Now Thea has to babysit in the afternoons, and all Jocelyn wants to do is spy on people. Neither of them expect to see Aunt Ellen and Aunt Celia at the boardwalk in the middle of the day, or for their aunts to lie and insist they were at work. Could it be Theas not the only one in the family keeping secrets this summer?

Jason Fitger es un asediado profesor de escritura creativa de una pequeña universidad. Su departamento se enfrenta a recortes draconianos y ubicaciones miserables, mientras que un piso por encima suyo, el Depto. de Economia va a entrar en oficinas lujosamente remodeladas. Su prometedora carrera como escritor esta de capa caida, asi como su vida romantica, en parte como resultado de su uso imprudente de sus asuntos privados para sus novelas.El desmoronamiento de su vida y del sistema educativo es el vehiculo de esta hilarante novela que, de una manera altamente inventiva, utiliza para contar esta historia una serie de mordientes cartas de recomendacion que Fitger escribe sin cesar a peticion de sus estudiantes y colegas. El resultado es una acida e hilarante novela que merece su propia carta de recomendacion.

WHEN DORA, ELENAS older sister, is diagnosed with depression and has to be admitted to the hospital, Elena cant seem to make sense of their lives anymore. At school, the only people who acknowledge Elena are Doras friends and Jimmy Zenkwho failed at least one grade and wears blackevery day of the week. And at home, Elenas parents keep arguing with each other. Elena will do anything to help her sister get better and get their lives back to normaleven when the responsibility becomes too much to bear.

A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in this hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members. Once more into the breach...Now is the fall of his discontent, as Jason Fitger, newly appointed chair of the English Department of Payne University, takes arms against a sea of troubles, personal and institutional. His ex-wife is sleeping with the dean who must approve whatever modest initiatives he undertakes. The fearsome department secretary Fran clearly runs the show (when not taking in rescue parrots and dogs) and holds plenty of secrets shes not sharing. The lavishly funded Econ Department keeps siphoning off Englishs meager resources and has taken aim at its remaining office space. And Fitgers attempt to get a mossbacked and antediluvian Shakespeare scholar to retire backfires spectacularly when the press concludes that the Bard is being kicked to the curricular curb. Lord, what fools these mortals be! Julie Schumacher proves the point and makes the most of it in this delicious romp of satire.Dont miss Julie Schumachers new novel, The English Experience, coming soon.

Like Richard Russos Straight Man this book has a lot to say about the humanities in American colleges and universities. Very funny and also moving. Tom Perrotta, New York PostA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR and Boston GlobeFinally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary." Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student cant catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melvilles Bartleby. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.Dont miss Julie Schumachers new novel, The English Experience, coming soon.

Livvie isnt superstitious like her best friend, Joyce, who thinks everything is bad luck. So Livvie isnt worried about tearing up the chain letter and throwing it awayuntil shes humiliated in gym class, falls down her back stairs, and gets invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Peter Finchs house. Peters dad has crooked teeth, a plastic wonderland in his front yard, and some kind of secret up in his study. There is no way Livvie wants Phil Finch to date her mom.But its hard work keeping their families apartespecially when Livvie is assigned to work on the sixth-grade snow maze project with Peter. Clearly, Joyce was right: breaking the chain was a huge mistake. And the only way to set things straight is to find out who sent the letter in the first place. . . .Rich in humor and suspense, Julie Schumachers absorbing novel is about friendship, choices, and the kind of luck that really matters.

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Beleaguered Professor Jason Fitger chaperones Payne Universitys annual Experience: Abroad to London and beyond, with eleven undergrads in tow The bestselling author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement completes her hilarious trilogy of academic mishapWise and hilarious and heartbreaking.Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire FallsJason Fitger may be the last faculty member the dean wants for the job, but hes the only professor available to chaperone Payne Universitys annual Experience: Abroad (he has long been on the record objecting to the absurd and gratuitous colon between the words) occurring during the three weeks of winter term. Among his charges are a claustrophobe with a juvenile detention record, a student who erroneously believes he is headed for the Caribbean, a pair of unreconciled lovers, a set of undifferentiated twins, and one young woman who has never been away from her cat before.Through a sea of troublespersonal, institutional, and internationalthe gimlet-eyed, acid-tongued Fitger strives to navigate safe passage for all concerned, revealing much about the essential need for human connection and the sometimes surprising places in which it is found.

Im Adrienne Haus, survivor of a mother-daughter book club. Most of us didnt want to join. My mother signed me up because I was stuck at home all summer, with my knee in a brace. CeeCees parents forced her to join after cancelling her Paris trip because she bashed up their car. The members of "The Unbearable Book Club," CeeCee, Jill, Wallis, and I, were all going into eleventh grade A.P. English. But we werent friends. We were literary prisoners, sweating, reading classics, and hanging out at the pool. If you want to find out how membership in a book club can end up with a person being dead, you can probably look us up under mother-daughter literary catastrophe. Or open this book and read my essay, which Ill turn in when I go back to school.

Finally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary." Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student cant catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melvilles Bartleby. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.